. >> ifill: today, the house opted for short term, temporarily lifting the debt ceiling until may 19, then resetting the cap to cover any borrowing over the current limit-- $16.4 trillion. and for now, republicans will not force immediate spending cuts. the party's new strategy would achieve that goal by forcing congress to pass a budget. house budget committee chair-- and last year's vice presidential nominee-- paul ryan. >> here's the point, we have a law, it's called the budget act, it requires that congress passes a budget by april 15. all we're saying is, "congress, follow the law, do your work, budget. and the reason for this extension is so we can have the debate we need to have." >> ifill: as added incentive, the house bill says, if there is no budget, then lawmakers won't get paid. after it passed today by a bipartisan vote of 285 to 144, speaker boehner said he's optimistic that will happen. >> if both chambers have a budget. democrat budget from the senate, republican from the house now you've got competing visions, for how we address this problem. out of those competing vi